GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County community is rushing to help thousands of families overseas after two earthquakes killed more than 1,400 people in Venezuela last week.
Pallets loaded with donations are already on their way out of the county, bound for Miami and then Venezuela, where families lost their homes and loved ones in back-to-back earthquakes.
“A lot of people lost everything,” said Gabriela Pina of the Principito Foundation. “They lost their home, they lost their family.”
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Pina helped organize a donation drive Sunday at H&H World Group, a shipping warehouse off Pleasant Hill Road in Lilburn. She expected maybe a few dozen volunteers. Instead, she told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson more than 600 people showed up.
Hundreds of them worked shoulder to shoulder, sorting and stacking the donations that kept pouring in through the doors.
“We are so grateful for all the help that we got from the people, even from other countries,” Pina said. “All kind of people came here yesterday just to help.”
In four days, the foundation gathered more than it ever has.
“Yesterday was another 67 tons,” Pina said. “So in total it’s about 107 tons.”
The piles keep growing, but the foundation now needs only certain donations. Volunteers have stopped accepting water and clothing because the warehouse is full.
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“We are collecting right now, the most important is medical supplies, baby supplies, non-perishable food,” Pina said.
The trucks heading to Miami this week are only the first wave. Pina said the need in Venezuela will stretch on for months, and the foundation has no plans to stop.
“They have to keep going,” she said. “We need to keep helping.”
The Principito Foundation is also collecting money to cover the cost of shipping the aid. Those who want to help can donate through the foundation’s GoFundMe.
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